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- Mar 19, 2019
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Jason Witten quit football last year, retiring to go into the ESPN Monday Night Football booth. He’s back, but his beloved helmet isn’t.
Witten spent the first 15 years of his career wearing two Air Advantage helmets by Schutt that he affectionately called Betsy. The helmet no longer is approved.
Unlike Antonio Brown, the Cowboys tight end switched helmets without a word of complaint. He’s now wearing a Vicis helmet.
“It’s been a long time coming, so I knew like anybody, the rules are the rules, so you’ve got to evolve with them,” Witten said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “There’s a lot of things you’d like to change, but at the same time you’ve got to evolve. It’s been a pretty easy transition. As much as I loved that helmet, I knew some things were out of my control and that was one of them.”
Of course, the signature play of Witten’s career came when he lost Betsy. It came in 2007 when a collision knocked off Witten’s helmet but didn’t knock him down. He ran for a 53-yard gain sans helmet most of the way, leading the Cowboys to a 38-17 victory over the Eagles.
The rules later were changed for safety, disallowing players to continue playing without a helmet in the event it comes off. Which is the same reason several players are being forced to change helmets this season. For safety. Only one is pitching a fit.